Never Say Crash
by Kianara-Titan
Summary: Steampunk AU with bending. The Avatar is a legend, an old child's tale. Aang will soon discover the legend is far from dead, however. The Fire Nation is moving. Aang must realize his destiny as the Avatar or fail to prevent a war to end all peace.
1. Black Sails

So far, skies clean. Aang scanned the horizon, making out nothing but a small herd of sky bison to the south. No pirates. None for over a week in fact. Aang was glad of that. Despite Rou Li's skepticism over the council's strategy, Aang trusted the daily patrols were working to discourage the pirates.

Rou Li's voice sounded in over the plane's radio, "Oi! Aang! Are you blind or something? Got a black sail to the northwest! Over."

Aang sighed and started to angle over. Maybe too trusting. Time to fly.

Aang swept his eyes across the skyline and checked the map he kept pinned in his cockpit, assessing the situation and mentally reminding himself to use proper radio syntax. "Ships headed for the Gyan province. They've probably spotted us, but we can run an intercept and disable before they get within firing range of the nearest settlement. Intercept and _disable_ only, Li, over."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. '_no excessive force is to be used except when faced with excessively deadly force_' I get it Aang, over," Rou Li snarled back as they flew in for the approach.

"Good, and remember, we're not even going for a disable unless they demonstrate a-" Aang cut himself off as he flew into a sloppy roll, narrowly avoiding a flaming canonball.

"a probable intent of violence? I think we've got that one covered Aang, over."

Aang took a few deep breaths. He hated close misses (though he preferred them greatly when compared to being, well, _hit_). He could see six planes on the ship's deck, three of them prepping for takeoff.

"Li, disable the canons, I'll take the planes on deck, over."

"Ten-four, over."

The pirates obviously hadn't been expecting to encounter a patrol. The pilots were scrambling to get their planes in the air. Aang readied himself for the flyby, taking note of the positions of a handful of firebenders on deck. Aang sensed the air shift slightly as Rou Li angled south a bit to be in a better position to disable the canons.

Aang flew by the ship, taking aim at the engines of the planes starting to take off. He didn't have much ammo with him (he _had_ forgotten to reload, like Rou Li often teased him about) and needed to make these count.

_Fwoosh-ding!_ First plane's engine out, boiler leaking out onto the deck courtesy of a pressurized air-gun.

One down. Take aim, line up the sights, fire. _Fwoosh-ding!_ Next plane out. Aang registered the sounds of canons being given a similar treatment at Rou Li's hands.

Last plane. Take aim, line up the sights, fire.

_Fwoosh-thunk._

"Monkeyfeathers..." he muttered under his breath, rolling to avoid a fireball sent off by a firebender on deck.

Aang glanced back. The plane he'd failed to take out was taking off. Meanwhile, Rou Li was right behind him, he'd taken out at least three of the six canons on that side of the deck. The pirates had started prepping the other three planes on deck.

"Li, loop around and disable the plane once it takes off. Disable only, over."

"Tsk, ten-four, over."

Aang looped around with Rou Li, then separated, looping around the back of the plane to fly by the northeast side. If he could take out the planes on deck, they could then hobble the ship enough so it had to turn around without taking a life.

The captain was on deck now, shouting orders and pointing angrily. He hadn't see him on deck before, he'd probably been busy belowdeck.

Aang sped up. It would be easiest to hit the planes before the pirates started the taxi down the runway. Take aim, line up the sights, fire.

_Fwoosh-ding!_

One down. Stay focused. Take aim, line up the sights-

The captain shoved one of his men between Aang and the second plane's engine, and quickly shoved a second in front of the last plane. Aang hesitated and the moment was gone. He pulled away, scanning the skies for Rou Li while muttering a few of his friend's choice curses. Gyatso would have been shocked to hear them, from Aang at least, but this situation 'warrented a few disapproving skinheads' as Rou Li would say.

Aang caught sight of Rou Li occupied with the first fighter, but faring distincty better than Aang. He could spot a few holes in the pirate's wing from here. One of the pirates' planes was taking flight now. Aang pulled up, rolling as he did, to turn and face the new threat as quickly as possible. The captain, identifyable by his pose of authority and floppy, feathered hat, yelled orders on deck near the last working plane. Crew members rushed to and fro, some working near the canons, a handful busying themselves about the plane, and some prepped flaming canonballs. He made a mental note to watch out for the latter as he aimed for the new plane's tail.

Miss. Aang sighed and wished, not for the last time, that their radios worked at longer range. Reinforcements would be very handy right now. When they knew pirates were coming, they normally prepared a team of at least four planes, and maybe even a combat bison, to take it on. Two fighters really wasn't enough.

He spotted the plane Rou Li was facing go down, the pilot bailing and releasing his parachute, which was promptly snagged and reeled in by the pirate ship.

Roll to avoid fire, reorient, target, fire. Repeat.

"Aang, check the deck," Rou Li's voice crackled in over the radio. They generally tried to avoid using radio so close to the enemy, who could pick up their signals easily enough if they tuned into the right frequency, but neither of them were in the right line of sight for hand signals.

"The captain's taking the last plane, over."

Aang turned his head and his plane away from his opponent. Sure enough, the captain had traded his large hat for a flight cap and goggles and was midway through taking off with the last plane.

Aang took the moment to check the horizon. The ship had drawn them closer to the outermost settlement. He ground his teeth together. They needed to keep the village safe, above all else.

The captain was in the air. Aang sent him a mock salute, then looked closer. The captain had yet to pull down his goggles, golden eyes glinting in contrast to the blue sky on a... decidedly feminine face.

The captain grinned at him predatorily, her teeth flashing in the sunlight giving her red lips the hue of blood. She pulled her goggles down and the grin disappeared.

Aang's just widened in return. Time to fly.

x x x

"Okay, apply some more pressure Katara, the engine should be producing enough power to have us at 15 knots soon."

She grunted and shot a slight glare his way, but obeyed. "You know, this isn't as easy as you pretend it is when you're handing out orders, Chief."

Sokka ignored her and scribbled down numbers as the dial pointed to steadily higher markings on the gauge in his hand. It would have been far easier to do this research back in the North Pole, with trained university waterbenders at his disposal for the tests, but while he was stuck here, he'd have to make do with Katara and her-

"Sokka! Are you even listening?" She was definitely annoyed, but there was an element of excitement that laced her tone enough to make him look up.

"Look Katara, if you're getting tired we can-"

"Its not that," she cut him off, excitement edging in over her irritation, "just _look!"_ She pointed excitedly off the starboard bow.

Sokka sighed shortly. This was really important research he was doing and she didn't understand that he needed to be writing down the... readings... that only confirmed exactly how fast they were going! His eyes widened and he didn't even attempt to hold back a wide grin. They were practically gliding across the waves! Normal speed on the _Kannerk_, his ship, was about ten or twelve knots, but she must be sailing at, he tore his eyes away from the sight of the open sea to check the reading for a moment.

"Twenty knots! Katara! We're going at _twenty_ knots!" He jumped up and punched the air. He'd travelled faster before, back during some other experiments at the university, but never with just one waterbender.

"This is going to change everything Katara!" He ran over and hugged her tightly. "You're officially the best little sister ever!"

She smiled back at him tiredly. "That's great Sokka. So your engine design worked?"

He noticed a few beads of sweat on her forehead and let go of his platapus bear grip on her. "It worked perfectly. You okay?" He frowned. Maybe he'd been pushing her too hard. Today _was_ the summer solstice after all, and they'd sailed a few leagues away from the village to stay away from ice floes, so no icebergs blocked the summer sun from beating down on them.

Katara nodded, but started slipping her outer parka off. The chill wind that had her insist they both bring their heavy outer coats along that morning had abated, replaced by the non-cold not-quite-heat of summer. He felt a bead of sweat make its way down his back and followed suit, sitting down next to her and resting his head against the _Kannerk_'s rail.

A few moments passed before he glanced at her again. "Are you su-"

"I'm _fine_ Sokka," she insisted. Another pause, then, "Besides, you're done with your testing for today anyway, right? We have plenty of time to go home at a non-waterbender assisted pace, right?"

He hesitated. The solstice festival tonight required his presence as the Tishen, temporary chief. He held back a sigh. Today was a perfect day for testing too... perhaps they could do a bit more testing. If Katara helped speed their way home, they'd make it in time for him to help with the solstice preparations...

"No."

He started slightly. "What?"

She frowned at him. "I know what you're thinking, Sokka, and you're not going to do it."

He looked away evasively, even though he knew she could see right through him. "Uh, I'm not going to do what?"

Her eyebrow twitched in irritation and he resisted the urge to hold onto his wolf tail and cover his head and ears from the explosion to come.

"What you're going to do, _Tishen_," she practically spat the word, "is convince me to do testing with you for another hour until we're so pressed for time that I have to kill myself to overhaul your stupid boat engine, which you care about more than our tribe, which, unfortunately for us, is your responsibility til dad gets back, so we can make it in time for the preparations for the solstice festival." She'd risen to her feet while yelling at him and Sokka reluctantly dragged himself upwards. He knew she was right and the least he could do is stand up and take her... misgivings like a man. He'd seen twenty winters for the moon's sake.

Her hand gestures got wilder and wilder, causing small shifts in the water around the _Kannerk_ but she was exerting enough control, he noted thankfully, to keep herself from affecting the engine.

"Everyone knows you don't want to be here Sokka! But right now you're the chief until dad completes his term, and its your duty as his son to stand in as the Tishen til he's done! We're going to be the laughingstock of the south pole, the way you manage our village!"

He winced and raised his arms placatingly, debating whether or not grabbing her almost-flailing hands would calm her down. A half-familiar hum danced on the edges of his hearing. "K-katara, I-"

She cut him off with a slice of her hand. "No! No excuses! I know your reasons, but I don't care Sokka! Its a great honor for dad to be voted as overarching Chief, but you don't even act like you're happy for him! You're only ever concerned about yourself and how this tore you away from your Oh-so-important research at the university! And don't even get me started on your ice-ridden girlfriend!"

The humming noise grew, adding to his headache. There was something important about that noise, he should know what it meant. If she would just shut up, he'd be able to concentrate.

"Katara! Will you give me a second?"

"No! You don't even give the tribe the time of day, Sokka! Instead of even pretending to care about the solstice festival or... or the patrol schedule or anything important to the tribe, you drag me out here to... to..." Her eyes widened as she trailed off, refocusing on a point behind him above his right shoulder.

Mid-way through turning around he realized what the noise was. He let loose a mental stream of curses in his head, blasting everything between the poles, himself included, as his eyes focused on a lone ship with a black sail streaking across the sky. Southbound or, as the sinking pit that (several seconds ago) had been Sokka's stomach was telling him, village-bound.

He turned to Katara. She looked back up at him and, in that moment, he _felt_ like the chief. Her eyes searched his for a plan. They needed to get back to their village, his village.

He hesitated slightly, then swallowed his fear. He was a man now, the chief of his tribe (albiet a temporary one). His father had entrusted him with this responsibility, and he'd be frozen before he let a ship of filthy pirates get to his village.

"Katara!" he barked, "I need you to gather all your strength and get this engine running at full capacity. Start by adding fuel, we need that fire hot." He dashed up to the wheel and started turning the _Kannerk_ around. She was a small ship and turned fairly easily, thank the moon. While she got the fire running hotter, he made the last few adjustments around the boat. It wasn't until he loosed the main triangular sail that Katara noticed he wasn't setting the ship up for a power run through the southern sea.

"Sokka...?"

He didn't have time to explain fully really. He'd been here a few months, but he couldn't recall explaining exactly what was so experimental about his ship beyond the engine design.

"If we go through the water, it'll slow us down too much, we won't get back in time. We need to follow them in the air." He continued making the necessary adjustments, vaulting over the railing and landing mostly-on his feet so he could make the last few changes to the steam engine.

Katara had paused in feeding the engine fire, but continued when he made his way over to the engine. "The _air_? Sokka, in case you haven't noticed, your ship is a _water_-bound ship. Not a skyship. I get that your engine is great and more waterbender-efficient and all, but its not going to fly!" An edge of panic worked its way into her voice and he could tell she was seriously concerned for his sanity, especially at such a crucial time.

He couldn't help his grin widening as he grabbed the last lever and forced it up.

"Yes it will."

x x x

Aang grimaced as Rou Li took out the plane that had escaped him. His friend hadn't shot to disable. The pilot bailed as his plane started spiraling downward, out of his control. Aang glanced back at the settlement. He needed to draw the captain away from the village. If he got her away, her plane was sure to follow.

He angled towards the captain, sparing time for a quick look down at the downed plane's pilot.

He wished he hadn't: the pilot's parachute hadn't opened right, he was tangled in the material, falling out of the sky and out of control.

Aang sent up a quick prayer and refocused at the fight at hand. The golden-eyed captain piloted her plane far more precisely than the other pirates had, flying with an expert hand that, while not as natural as an air nomad's, had just as much skill, backed by determination and ruthlessness.

Aang pulled up as she drew near, hoping to lure her up and away from the still-too-close settlement. He signaled Rou Li that he would handle the captain himself as she angled upwards, joining him in the deadly dance as each plane rolled and looped over itself in an effort to avoid their opponent's bullets.

He grit his teeth as she avoided yet another volley of bullets aimed to disable. It was moments like this where Aang found himself envying Rou Li's more careless, agressive style and how he could go all out. No restraints against an opponent willling to take his life. He wouldn't abandon his morals on a whim though. This fight would be fought in a way that would make Gyatso proud.

He resisted the urge to yelp in alarm after another close call. Those bullets came so close Aang could have sworn they'd hit his port wing. He cast a quick glance at his wing. A thin scratch. Aang felt his eyes widen as adrenaline rushed through his system; a bullet had _grazed_ his wing.

At least they were some distance away from the settement now. Aang checked his mirror. The ship was turning around! Rou Li continued to harrass it, landing small, fairly superficial damages. Actually following the code for once. Aang smiled faintly as he fired once more at the pirate captain and she, once more evaded.

Aang grit his teeth. He needed to end this soon; they were drawing nearer and nearer to Earth Kingdom airspace.

He hesitated a moment, then turned into a steep dive, not firing. She mirrored him, gunning her engines even faster. They raced downward, through the clouds, flying headlong towards the harsh waters below.

Pirate planes weren't as manuverable as Air Nomad planes. The captain was obviously a proud person. Once drawn into this deadly race, she'd do all she could to not pull up first. Aang flashed his opponent a grin. All he had to do was pull up in time so she'd only have enough time to try and avoid crashing headfirst into the ocean, from there he could easily pull off a disabling shot. It would require precision timing and-

Lightning!

He yelled in alarm, but that did little to halt his headlong, now flaming, plunge towards the ocean's surface. He looked towards the captain, who gave him a mocking salute in imitation of the one he'd done before. Intuition told him to grab his glider, always fastened to the side of his cockpit, and unfasten his harness.

The next blast of lightning knocked him out of the cockpit and out of the realm of the conscious.

* * *

This chapter has been brought to you by Reduced Fat White Cheddar Cheez-Its and my wonderful beta Zekey.

This fic, which is a personal exercise in writing, started June 21, the Summer Solstice. Its a summer story, following the same summer the characters are living through. Think of it as a season of Avatar, which would make this Book One: Fire.

After this Monday solstice update, new chapters will be posted **every Friday **until the final chapter, which will be posted on the Autumn Equinox, Wednesday, September 21.

Chapter Notes: "Skinhead" has a very different connotation in the AU than in real life, merely referring to an Air Nomad whose head is shaved. And Rou Li is pretty much the only OC I have planned, and he won't but in often, so fear not.

See you Friday~

Kia out.


	2. Deal with the Devil

Aang was used to being in the sky, but this was a new viewpoint. He wasn't easily nauseated, but the sight of the sea spinning over the clouds spinning over the sea was starting to make his stomach turn.

He closed his eyes, gripping his staff tighter in his hand, and tried to will the disorientation away. He hadn't succumbed to those feelings since he was a kid learning airbending for the first time. Why was he spinning anyway?

Just a few seconds ago he'd been... flying... diving towards the ocean! Aang forced his eyes open, panic rushing through his veins. He instinctively twisted in the air, stabilizing his falling to stop the nauseating spinning. The waters were rushing up towards him, there wasn't much time. Aang twisted and fought to get his glider open. It had been damaged in the fall, the tail burned to a crisp.

His breath quickened. He could _die_ if he hit the water at this speed. Would Gyatso even know what happened to him? Had the captain shot down Rou Li?

A thousand images flashed through his head as he forced the catch on his glider. All his friends and adopted family. The sliver of land on the edge of his vision. An unfamiliar bearded man in red. The foam on the water below.

The gilder's wings unfurled with a snap, wings pulling against his momentum. The ocean was right there.

Aang struggled to center his weight. Without the tail to rest his feet on, he was just barely hanging on.

But his downward momentum had started to be transferred into horizontal. He was gonna make it. Aang felt a grin rising up as a cloud shadow moved over him.

His toes skimmed the surface of the water. Aang immediately pulled his legs up, casting a glance back. It would be bad news for him if the golden eyed captain was-

Aang's stomach twisted. That... was a rather sizable wave.

It overwhelmed him, ripping the glider out of his hands. Something hard hit his elbow and he yelled in pain. Water rushed in his mouth, choking him as the wave turned his head over his feet. The disorienting feeling returned and he struggled to remember which way was up. Whenever he thought he could see light above him, saltwater stinging his eyes, the rolling waters destroyed all sense of direction the next moment.

His lungs burned and shadows curled in at the corners of his vision.

Sky. He needed to get to the sky.

His flight gear felt heavy and waterlogged, his movements sluggish. Aang focused on his gloved hand in bleary curiosity. It seemed lighter for some reason, as though his skin was glowing below the triple layered cloth.

He never did find out where that light was coming from as his eyes closed and he felt himself fade away for the second time that day.

x x x

"How is this happening?"

Sokka laughed, "Brilliant engineering courtesy of a certain water tribe genius."

Katara snorted, "I'm sure he's modest too."

They were flying, literally. Sokka could not and did not resist the grin that overwhelmed his face. He hadn't thought to get to this point for another month of testing, but necessity called. He glanced at Katara. She wasn't even as tired as he assumed she'd be, even after the testing they'd done earlier that day.

The grin faded as the reason they were racing back at full speed forced its way back into his mind. Sokka bit his lip. As fantastic as the wind in his hair felt The patrols had certainly spotted the pirates and alerted the village... right? Sokka closed his eyes and struggled to recall the patrol map and schedule he'd drawn up earlier this week. It seemed fuzzy now, and the hastily scribbled characters and arrows pointed to all the wrong places.

What if the patrols _hadn't_ sighted the pirates in time to notify the village? All the elation he felt at the _Kannerk_'s successful first flight had sunk into his gut, replaced by a vaguely nauseating feeling of dread.

His mood had bled out onto Katara as well, who'd quieted as well, just concentrating on bending the engine to maximum capacity.

What if the patrols hadn't spotted the pirates? What if the pirates caught them by surprise? What if everyone was dead when they got there? What if what if what if. He felt a bead of sweat run down his back.

"... I'll be right back."

He disappeared into his small cabin and started stripping off his university jacket. As comfortable and practical as it was (at either pole), it offered little defense.

Sokka rifled through the chest at the foot of the small bed he had there until he found the warrior garb his father had gifted him on his seventeenth birthday. It was the regalia of a man, not a child's warrior getup. He'd only worn it once, not even taking it out of the trunk since he left for the university in the Northern Water Tribe.

If there was danger, it would be far better to be caught in this than in his high collared, furred university coat.

He changed quickly, then considered his weapons before selecting the boomerang and club. He had a few more exotic selections from the North Pole, but he wasn't as practiced with them as he was with his childhood picks.

He slung the boomerang case over his shoulder and fastened the club at his hip before rejoining Katara outside. She glanced at him, but said nothing.

Sokka took his spyglass from the box he kept it in on deck and looked southward. Smoke rising. He bit his lip. Of course the Summer Solstice festival involved burning sacrifices to the spirits (Sokka saw it as man's desire to set things on fire, silly, but still fun), so there would be plenty of flammables lying around.

"Almost there," she stated his own thoughts.

He nodded grimly as he moved to steer them in to dock at the airship port on the northwest side of the village.

They rounded the last iceburg and he could see the pirate's skyship clearly. They were in the village, struggling against the last of the guard.

Sokka docked the _Kannerk_ hastily before jumping off her, drawing his club as he went. He vaguely heard Katara's footsteps behind him as she tiredly (but determinedly) followed, a stream of water at the ready.

x x x

_A strange dream to be sure, last he checked he was drowning._

_Instead, now he was surrounded by a strange light with no discernible source. It almost seemed as though the water around him was being lit by some dim blue light coming from his own body, though the color might just be due to the water's natural hue._

_His dream-self spun around once before suddenly propelling himself to the surface. He took a great breath of air before diving back down again, this time however, the ocean currents seemed to aid his progress rather than stifle it; each stroke he took pulled him along the length of ten of his normal strokes._

_Weird dream, he'd never had one about waterbending before._

_He swam quickly, the power in this dream body made Aang feel almost awake, it was so vivid. Every stroke he made, the water that flowed and bent to his every movement, and finally the way the air spun about him as he made the last leap from the water, landing on the beach._

_Then the energy seemed to fade, draining out of his body reluctantly. He fell to his knees and vaguely sensed the strange light go out before his face hit the sand._

x x x

His feet were cold and wet. Obviously those new issue boots they'd imported from the Earth Kingdom weren't worth the money they'd paid for them, especially considering the shipping and trading difficulties involved.

Another wave washed up, this time reaching to his knees. Aang felt the vague sense that he should move. The sun was setting and high tide was rising. The golden caramel sky to his left warmed his eyes just as the creeping ocean tides, freezing even to the start of summer, chilled his legs and sent goosebumps up his back.

Aang groaned and struggled to push himself up. Flashes of a strange dream kept coming to him, but there was no time to think about that. High tide would come quickly enough and he needed to _move_.

Just one arm. Just need to start myself moving. Aang forced his right arm forward and started trying to push himself up. His shoulder ached in protest, vigorously. Everything hurt. His legs were sore and his torso felt bruised.

Next arm. Figure out the bearded guy in the other dream later. He shifted and attempted to move his left arm, but was stopped by a sharp pain from his forearm. He muttered a few of Rou Li's more select curses under his breath.

Broken arm. Just what he needed.

Another wave broke, this time reaching mid-thigh. Aang bit his lip and moved the arm anyway, slowly and painfully dragging himself up the beach.

It would be really pathetic to somehow have survived that crash and end up drowning on the beach because he couldn't escape high tide.

... How _had_ he survived that crash anyway? Everything got kind of fuzzy once he hit the water... but he'd obviously washed up on the beach. Aang shrugged mentally. Don't question the spirits' kindness, as Gyatso had always said. He'd probably clung to driftwood and floated ashore or something.

The waves were back down to his shins. He probably wouldn't drown, that was nice. Drowning wasn't nice that first time.

He reached the seaweed line and allowed himself a moment's rest. His left arm was throbbing even more so than the rest of his body. He'd need to splint it if he didn't want to hurt it any more than it aleady was. He cast a look around, praying to the spirits there would be a piece of driftwood nearby. He'd need to find it quickly in this fading light.

Sand, seaweed, more sand, shells, a suspiciously person-shaped shadow?

Aang followed the shadow upward and squinted.

"H-hello?"

An irreverent female voice answered him, "Hey there."

Aang felt a pang of irritation. "Uh, how long have you been there?"

The shadow shrugged and its owner started to move forward casually, revealing a somewhat short girl about his age. "Here on this estate? About two years. Here on this beach? About twenty minutes."

He struggled and found the energy to sit up, now squinting in the near dark to make out more of the girl's features. "Why didn't you help me? Didn't you see me struggling there?" The last fifteen minutes of his struggle to barely drag himself across fifteen feet of sand seemed pointless now.

She shrugged again and the goggles on her head glinted in the fading light. "I guess it just didn't occur to me," she stated, "besides, you didn't ask for help."

He was silent for several moments. Was she serious? "... I could have _died!_"

She moved closer and sat on the sand in front of him, but still didn't look quite at him, instead seeming to tilt her head in the direction of whatever sound she was focused on. "But you _didn't_, Sandpants. And you didn't cry or yell for help, you just helped yourself." She flashed a smile in his general direction. "I like that. You're not a complete wuss, so I won't throw you off my property immediately."

He blinked. Her property? She couldn't be any older than him, and he didn't see any walls or markings indicating this was anyone's estate. "Um, okay?"

"Come on, I'll get your arm splinted before I kick you out at least." She stood up and stretched. "Can you walk?"

Aang leaned on his right arm and tried to push himself to his feet. The sun had disappeared behind a mountain in the distance and he was disoriented by the complete darkness. He made it to his feet, but it was a struggle. Everything still hurt and he felt completely drained.

She regarded him for a moment. "Hm. If you try you'll just slow me down. And watching you barely drag yourself out of the ocean was painful enough, I'll carry you back."

He gave her a weird look, though she didn't look at him much. Standing up he could tell that while she was well muscled, he had at least a head of height on her.

"Um, you'll what?"

She stomped the ground and caused a slab of earth to pull from the ground. She patted it comfortably. "Come on, sit, fall, jump, just get on. As great as this chat is, I want you to go away, and I'm not so cruel as to send you off with a broken arm. Just get on so you can get going."

An earthbender. That explained a bit. He hesitated, then sat down on the portable bench. She immediately started walking, presumably towards her house, and the slab followed along beside her. It wasn't incredibly smooth, but he'd been on far more uncomfortable rides in his life.

As they fell into silence, Aang's weariness caught back up with him and he found himself lying down on his right side. He struggled to stay awake, telling himself he was just resting his eyes for a few moments before he fell into a deep, restful sleep.

x x x

"Ataaaackkkkk!"

Sokka charged at the nearest pirate with his club, striking him in the back of the head. He fell to his knees with a yell of pain, clutching his wound.

Sokka didn't pause, ducking a fireblast and taking in the situation as his bloody club glanced against a pirate's sword and Katara's water whip snapped in the background. The pirates seemed to have just about subdued the tribe. The charred, half set up decorations and the comical costumes of the villagers who had been herded into a group in the center square made it look like a performance, as though the pirate attack was just a drama, like the Fall of the Blue Spirit play.

Sokka swung his club hard, knocking the pirate's sword out of his hand. He couldn't identify the captain yet. Most of the pirates were occupied keeping the villages in line while some others were looting the houses. His next blow connected with the side of the man's head, knocking him to the ground unconscious.

He started trying to fight his way over to the tribe. They had the element of surprise. He could see a few of the warriors in the group and one waterbender, if he could rally them into a group, then maybe they could-

"Stop!" a harsh voice rang out. Authority filled it and as he turned around, Sokka became sure he'd found the captain.

A pirate with a large feathered hat, undoubtedly the captain, stood next to another who was holding a knife to the neck of a water tribe child. Sokka froze. The boy was crying softly. He was... Anya's son.

Katara froze too, pulling her water back in close to herself. Her eyes widened in horror and he remembered that the kid was one of Katara's waterbending students, he couldn't have been older than six.

The captain paused, assured they had stopped fighting, before speaking again. His voice rang out harshly as he walked forward. "Good. Make another move and the child will die." He gestured to the cruel looking man holding the boy... Arnak was his name, who jerked the knife closer to Arnak's neck.

Katara was shaking in anger. Sokka tried to shoot her a look, but her eyes were fixed on the captain.

He met her look in return, walking closer. The man holding Arnak stayed near the pirates' ship. Everyone's eyes, Sokka's included, followed the captain's slow gait towards Katara. From this angle, Sokka could only see the side of his face covered by a large eyepatch. He had about a hand's span of height on Katara and held himself proudly.

"You're taking them for the slave trade, aren't you?"

Katara's angry voice pierced the silence. Sokka frantically looked back towards the group of villagers, looking for the faces of Katara's young class. He saw kids, but none of the waterbenders. Bile rose in his throat as he realized what his sister had noticed first.

The captain tilted his head to the side. "You must be the 'Katara' they kept crying about. You're hopefully not the mother of all of them, so I'm assuming you're their teacher"

The water between her hands shifted and she glared at him. "And if I am?"

The captain's hand trailed over the hilt of his sword as the braid that hung between his shoulderblades drifted in the breeze. "I may have an offer for you. You've been trained to bend for steam engines already, haven't you?"

She hesitated a moment before responding, "I have..."

The captain nodded to himself, as though just confirming his suspicions instead of recieving the answer to a question. "I thought so."

He raised his voice now so everyone present could hear. "I have a deal to make you, water tribe peasant. You've been trained already. You're the prime age for the slave trade. If you come, peacefully, then I will release all the children already taken in return."

Whispers immediately erupted, from the pirates as well as the villagers, as the captain raised his right hand, two fingers pointing to the sky, and lit a small flame above them. "Agni take me if I lie."

Katara looked at him doubtfully, then at Arnak crying softly with a knife to his neck. Sokka felt fire rush through his veins as she looked back at the captain and extended her hand.

"Katara! No!" He charged forward, raising his club to strike the captain in the jaw. If he hit right, he could break the man's jaw and neck in one stroke.

Before he could hit, at least two pirate lackeys intercepted him, throwing him to the ground and pinning him there by his shoulders.

"Katara! Don't do it! No! You can't!"

He shouted at her until one of them wrestled his club out of his grip and shoved it between his teeth.

Sokka saw more than heard the captain tell his men not to kill him, then accept Katara's agreement. Another pirate moved forward and immediately put a pair of metal cuffs on her, securing her arms behind her back, and started guiding her to the ship.

She struggled against him slightly, craning her neck back to see the captain. "Your oath! Fufill it!"

He looked back towards her and tilted his head as though considering her words carefully.

Her eyes teared up and she struggled against her captor more before he spoke.

"Release the children."

The relief on her face was ill matched with the image of her being dragged onto the pirates' ship.

Sokka closed his eyes, not allowing a single tear to escape as the sound of relieved children running off the ship reached his ears. His stupid, stupid sister.

He felt the blood pounding in his ears as the men pinning him to the ground got up, moving with the rest of the pirates back to the ship.

Sokka rose to his feet to glare at the captain, who stood a dozen feet away. The golden eyed man met his gaze evenly.

"I'm going to get her back," he said quietly.

The man raised the eyebrow not covered by the patch. "Oh really?"

"I'll see you dead before I give up on my sister." Sokka resisted the urge to tackle the man to the ground. He couldn't win here, not now.

The man gave a short, mirthless laugh. "Family is worthless. Find a better way to spend your life; you'll never catch me."

Then the captain turned around and stalked back to his ship. As the pirates took off, Sokka saw the golden eyed captain launch a fireblast at the _Kannerk_, setting it aflame.

* * *

This chapter has been brought to you by Fig Newtons.

I'm not quite as happy with this chapter, but that may be because Zekey wasn't around to beta it. I'll see about bugging someone else to beta for me next time she can't get online or something. So forgive me for whatever mistakes I've made, point them out and I'll fix them.

I'm really embarrassed about the first chapter too, I screwed it up so much. .;;; I've fixed the mistakes through, so if you read through it you'll find that my scene breaks, which I normally do with asterisks that apparently doesn't like, have been replaced by the -friendly X's you see in this chapter. It makes it much easier to read and I'm sorry for any inconvenience it may have caused you last chapter.

Anyway, who could the golden eyed captain be? (again) Who's the earthbender Aang met? The answers to all these mysteries will be revealed next chapter!

Oh, and links to sketches and art I'm doing for this can be found in my profile. I'm doing a page of drawings/doodles for each chapter (a bit delayed usually) so I can link to here from my dA account since I'm not posting here. See an image of the "mysterious" golden eyed captain (from this chapter) there!

See you next Friday,

Kia


	3. Revenge is a Great Motivation

Sokka ignored the hot tears welling up in his eyes and stalked to his burning ship, staring at it a moment in blank despair before gazing up at the figure of the retreating pirate ship.

"Seriously?" he yelled, pounding a fist against the side of his boat as a tear trailed lazily down his cheek. He couldn't put the fire out and without his ship... Katara...

A small voice sounded behind him. "T-tishen, l-let us h-help"

Sokka turned, rubbing the tear away with the palm of his hand. Men didn't cry, chiefs didn't cry. Behind him, Arnak and a handful of the waterbending children, all different ages, from five to eleven, stood meekly.

He nodded to them and they went to work, clumsily bending water to put the fire out. Sokka watched for a moment before, assured that they would put it out safely, stalking away. There were preparations to be made.

None of the tribe spoke to him, some were crying, others tending to those wounded in the raid. He felt their eyes on him though, as he walked determinedly towards the supply tent.

Food and water. Weapons he had plenty, and he already had ammunition for his sole canon loaded up. Sokka stalked into the supply tent. Thank the spirits that fireball hadn't hit his ammunition. Sokka grabbed a supply sack and started stuffing it with dried tigerseal meat strips. When he finished filling that sack, he tied it off and grabbed a medium freshwater barrel. He already had a decent stock on his ship, and this one would replace the one he'd been going through for the past week.

"Tishen Sokka?"

He turned. Arnak was standing half in the door, clutching the sealhide doorflap as though he was afraid Sokka's gaze might push him back out.

"... What is it Arnak?" he said after a moment, turning back to packing another bag with as much meat as he could fit.

Sokka heard the boy shift behind him. "A-are you leaving?

He hesitated, then shouldered his bags, tucking the water barrel under his arm. "I need to rescue my sister, Arnak," he said evenly, trying to keep his voice as level as possible. He walked out the supply tent, causing Arknak to jump back and start shadowing him as he stalked towards his ship.

Which was thankfully no longer on fire.

The villagers were starting to recover from the shock of the attack, repairing their homes and helping the wounded. He could see Hanal, their elderly healer and only trained waterbender besides Katara, working on healing Bato. Sokka cast another glance around before walking over to them.

The elderly woman looked up. She wasn't trained for combat, and was too timid and womanly for it anyway. "T-tishen Sokka, he has suffered serious burns on his arm, layered on the ones he suffered previously," she said, voice trembling slightly as she addressed him.

Sokka set his supplies down and crouched by his dad's best friend. Even though Bato's face was averted from his gaze, Sokka could tell his jaw was clenched in pain. The costume he'd donned in preparation for the solstice festival looked sickeningly celebratory on his burned body.

Sokka reached out and gently laid his hand over the older man's. The shame in Bato's face mirrored that which Sokka felt. Hakoda had left the tribe to their protection, asking Bato to remain behind and act as Sokka's mentor and rest his wounds. Sokka's voice cracked as he spoke.

"I'm sorry Bato."

The man was silent a moment before turning to meet his eyes. He managed a thin smile as he replied, "There is nothing to forgive, Sokka."

Sokka nearly lost his nerve as the man turned his hand and weakly gripped Sokka's for a moment. He swallowed hard and recalled the image of Katara being dragged into the pirate ship. He _needed_ to do this.

He shifted his weight and laid his other hand on Bato's forehead, ignoring the older man's questioning gaze. "Bato, Son of the Southern Water Tribes, I impart to you the burden of the chiefdom of our village. Hakoda, our born chief, is absent and named me Tishen in his place." Sokka drew a deep breath. "It is with this authority that I now name you Tishen."

Sokka heard several gasps in the background and a good share of murmurs. He ignored them and continued, "My loyalty now lies to you, Tishen Bato."

He rose and bowed, not waiting for a response from the wounded man before picking his supplies back up. The crowd automatically stepped aside, clearing the way to his ship. He shifted the weight of the bags on his shoulder and walked towards his ship.

A diminutive figure stood in front of the deck, the only villager not aiding in rebuilding or tending to the wounded (or crowding around to listen to him talking to Bato).

Sokka bit his lip and gripped the water barrel tighter, suddenly wishing that he'd grabbed something stronger to drink. He stopped in front of the deck and cleared his throat before addressing his grandmother.

"Please stand aside, Grangran."

"Sokka, you cannot leave."

x x x

"Lieutenant Rou Li, of Monk Gyatso reporting," he stated, voice sounding harsh to his own ears, "on the pirates encountered five leagues northeast of the settlement Yanatsya."

"Continue," the Monk Raiyan said. Rou Li glared at the floor. He could barely contain the anger boiling in his stomach.

"It was the midpoint of the fourteenth hour when I spotted a pirate ship headed towards the settlement. I radioed Aang and we approached the ship."

"Did you," Monk Yabiz interrupted, "follow all the proper procedures for engaging a suspected aggressor?"

Rou Li grit his teeth. "Yes," he spat, making little effort to contain his derision now, "we did. Aang was about to radio them on the common frequency when they launched a flaming canonball at our ship.

"Which," he added, "demonstrates a _probable_ intent of violence. In accordance with ordinance seven, subsection three."

Monk Yabiz, who had opened his mouth to interrupt again, shut it and Rou Li continued.

"We engaged with perfect propriety," he said, placing a certain emphasis on the last word, "firing only to disable the canons and planes on deck on our first pass. One plane took off and Aang ordered me to engage it."

"And did you follow all the-"

"Yes! I did, Monk Yabiz. I fired only to disable, eventually hitting the plane, causing the pilot to jump out of his plane. His parachute was fished up by the pirates, and the man was recovered without loss of life."

He could see a few nods, but a certain level of skepticism in the eyes of some. He'd been called before the council before for breaking code, and he was sure his defiant full head of black hair didn't endear himself to them. He shifted the set of his sling before the council leader spoke.

"You may continue, lieutenant, but keep in mind to whom you speak and the respect to them owed."

"Yes, Monk Raiyan," he all but mumbled before continuing, "Aang did another pass, taking out another plane, but the captain of the ship shoved one of her men in front of the second to last plane, then the final one. Aang didn't shoot and one of the planes took off. He engaged that one while I shot down the first. I was flying by for another pass on deck when I saw the pirate captain taking off in the last plane. I radioed Aang, then we switched targets. I took down the plane he was fighting and he engaged the captain."

Rou Li skimmed over the fact that he'd gotten frustrated and hadn't shot to disable that last plane. Thankfully, the council didn't seem to be in the mood to interrupt him at the moment. Gyatso didn't meet his gaze.

"He... he tried luring the captain away from the settlement," Rou Li continued, voice becoming thick again, "and I harassed the plane, disabling the canons and causing superficial damages. Exactly according to the code.

"No pirates were killed by my assault, and the ship started to turn around. I followed it, still landing slight damages, until the captain flew back. She immediately engaged me, causing some negligible damages to my plane and shooting me in the arm. I kept looking northwest for Aang and she noticed. Then she radioed over the common frequency that my, "little friend was dead," and asked if I'd like to join him in the ocean."

Rou Li grit his teeth. After that he'd ignored the pain in his arm and tried to kill her. It only became more frustrating when she evaded his shots, even laughing in his face and taunting him over the radio. He'd never forget the look in her eyes as she smirked at him and drawled about how Aang had nearly made it before a wave overwhelmed him and his glider.

"The ship seemed to be on the verge of turning around to attack Yanatsya when the Yang Ro's patrol arrived and drove the pirates off. The captain landed safely on her ship."

The council was silent now, though Raiyan and several other monks were looking at Gyatso in concern.

Monk Yabiz broke the silence.

"That second plane you took out, was it a disabling shot, according to code?"

Something snapped.

"Aang is dead!" he yelled, all propriety gone as he ripped his goggles off his neck and threw them to floor. One of the lenses shattered into a thousand pieces as he felt hot tears well up.

"My _brother_ is dead! Monk Gyatso's own son! And you're asking if the bastards who shot him out of the sky lived? They all deserve to die! All of those pirates! The sky is _ours_ and they should be shot down, their ships and planes burned by their own fires!"

He could hear gasps and murmurs from the lesser monks in attendance to the council's hearing, but his case was beyond rescuing at this point. He couldn't take this back, so he might as well make sure he was heard.

He glowered at Monk Yabiz. "You hypocrites! All you skinheads care about is keeping to the ancient code. Valuing life. Well let me ask you then, what is the value of Aang's life? He was raised here in the temple same as me, an orphan with no home to speak of. In return, we choose to serve and protect our people. He dies and do you care? You want to know if the pirates who took the sky away from him, who would kill all of us without a second thought, lived?"

He spat at Yabiz' feet. "You have the ground before you swept, lest you harm an insect, but you take for granted those who die so you can do so. What is the value of Aang's life? He loved your rules, your precious code. Now he's dead because of your rules! If it wasn't because you valued the lives of those who oppose you more than you value the life of your own pilots, he would be here!"

He took a shuddering breath and scratched away the tears on his face with his good arm. Behind him, the murmurs had stopped, bathing the audience hall in silence.

Monk Raiban spoke quietly, but his voice dominated the hall, echoing off the walls ominously. "Rou Li of Gyatso, you have been brought before the council before for breaches of code. Today already you have been warned to demonstrate proper respect and awareness of whom you're addressing. Effective immediately, you are discharged from the Air Corps. Your rank and the privileges with it are revoked." Monk Raiban paused a moment. "You are grounded for life. If you are found operating an airplane or artificial flying vehicle of any sort, you will be removed to an asylum.

"This is the will of the council of the Southern Air Temple in Nancheng. No option of appeal is granted. You will be escorted from temple grounds immediately and are forbidden from returning without an invitation from the council."

At his final words, a pair of burly, non-council monks moved forward and seized his arms, gently but firmly. He allowed himself to be dragged halfway out the hall before he started to struggle, craning his neck around to see the council. It was unreal. He'd grown up in the temple.

"Gyatso!" he shouted, then paused. His voice was strange to his own ears. "Please, father!"

He was dragged out of the hall, but the last thing he saw before the doors shut was Gyatso's wavering, uncertain face. After the doors shut he stopped struggling, walking with them peacefully. They loosened their grip on his upper arms in return, but did not let go.

After they walked him outside the temple grounds, which were marked by a simple arch, as walls wouldn't deter any air nomad from entering, they stood uncertainly for a moment. Rou Li gazed back at the temple, its spires and columns. The ancient murals that detailed the history of his people.

He sighed and turned his back, walking back to Nancheng proper. He would have to go to the Nancheng Air Corps barracks to remove his belongings. Tonight though, he could stay with friends in the city. Maybe see if anyone had any smuggled liquor from the Earth Kingdom.

His tired feet moved without his input, however, and he found himself standing in front of the run down building that served as the Progressive's headquarters. He'd almost forgotten there was a meeting tonight.

He ran his hand over the worn door, feeling the individual wood grains and gazing at his hand in the light of the setting sun. The short blue arrows that went from the back of his hands to his wrists and from his feet to his ankle were the only things that differentiated him from any other boy in the Earth Kingdom. If he moved quickly, he could borrow a gilder and make it to the docks in time to stow away on a merchant's ship before twilight. He could wear gloves and boots.

Living under the Earth Kingdom's no-fly rules would kill him though, crippling him more than the council's grounding.

He knocked on the door with the proper sequence and the bar locking it was pulled off. He entered and ignored the questions posed about his arm. It was time to stop talking about change and revolution and begin acting on it. His brother didn't die to be forgotten.

x x x

"I _have_ to leave!" he replied, unable to keep his voice from raising slightly at the end.

She glared up at him, wrinkles scrunching between her eyes, and he was reminded again of how old she was. Her voice was still strong, though shaken, when she responded, "Sokka, your duty as chief in your father's absence is to your tribe, this village."

His gaze hardened. "My duty as my father's son and my sister's brother is to Katara."

He tried to move around her and she seized his sleeve. "Sokka! Your father named you Tishen while he was serving at the pole! You cannot abandon us, especially at such a time as this."

He knew she hadn't said or insinuated anything of the kind, but he heard his own mental accusations in her words. He hadn't spent the time to properly schedule the patrols. He'd been neglecting the tribe in general, not making it much of a secret of how he'd prefer to be continuing his studies in the North Pole. Now he was going to abandon them right after a pirate attack?

But could he face his father when Hakoda received word of the pirate attack and, as part of his duties as elected chief of all the Southern Water Tribes, visited his home village? Face him and tell him that pirates had taken his only daughter and he, Sokka, her older brother, had done nothing?

He laid a hand on Grangran's shoulder. "Kana," he said quietly, "Katara's counting on me to rescue her. I've made Bato Tishen in my place. I want you to tell dad that I'm sorry when he comes." He paused. "Please... I know you want Katara back as much as I do. You've always talked about how much you missed your friend Hama when she was the first waterbender taken from our tribe to the Fire Nation slave trade. I refuse to let them take her. If I leave now, I should be able to catch up to the pirates in a couple of days."

She sniffed and Sokka felt a pang of guilt for bringing up her old friend. Grangran always cried when she told the story of how Hama had been fighting one of the earliest pirate raids, how their firebenders had withdrawn, seemingly retreating, and how Hama pressed forward, hoping to help drive them back, only to have them suddenly surge forward and set upon her, locking her wrists together before dragging her into their ship and disappearing into the sky.

"Please," he said quietly, "let me bring her back."

Some villagers had followed him over, and now stood behind him in tentative silence.

A single tear rolled down Grangran's cheek as she stepped aside, pulling him into a tight embrace. "Bring her back," she whispered into his ear, her tears wetting his neck, "Please, Sokka."

Then she stepped back, releasing her grip on him and gazing up at him sadly. "And be safe, Sokka. I couldn't bear to lose you too."

His eyes felt moist as he replied, "I will be. I love you, Grangran."

Then he turned and walked down the deck and aboard his ship. He put his supplies away and gave his ship a once over. The burns were (mostly) superficial. He could do (some of) the repairs as he flew.

He started up his ship under the midnight sun, knowing that some of the villagers must have thought he was going mad from exposure. None of that mattered, however. All that mattered was getting his sister back.

Murdering that bastard pirate captain would make him pretty happy too.

* * *

This chapter was brought to you by Cheddar Jack Cheez-Its.

Can't talk long, sorry. Kind of supposed to be on vacation right now sans electronics. Will reply to all reviews and such later.

Kia out.


	4. In Which Names are Learned

Everything hurt. Still.

Aang groaned to himself and shifted slightly, shutting his eyes tightly against the morning's light. His back protested in return, as well as most of the rest of his body. He felt bruised and battered. The ocean hadn't been kind to him.

He tried to stretch, but the splint on his left arm restricted his movement. Slowly, the events of the previous night creeped back into his memory. The crash, waking up on the beach, the girl who'd found him, and finally his falling asleep on the way back to her house.

Aang cracked an eye open, ignoring the ache that resulted, and looked around. It didn't _look_ much like a house. The ceiling had a large opening in it, and stone pillars replaced at least three of the walls.

He tried to sit up and grunted as his back cracked. The girl had splinted his arm, but just laid him down on a raised earthen slab covered by a thin blanket. The sooner he got back to Nancheng and a proper (if simple) bed, the better. Airbenders really weren't meant to sleep on the hard ground.

At least his clothes had dried out. Aang examined his arm. The splint was serviceable, though not very neat. He'd re-wrap it later and find a temple doctor to take a proper look at the arm when he got back.

Which, Aang admitted to himself as he walked around the simple, if sturdy, dwelling, might take a while. He didn't have a glider, and as the Earth Kingdom was a no-fly zone, he would need to find a merchant sea-ship that would carry him to one of the sea-level trading posts around Nancheng. His stomach twisted at the thought. That could take weeks. He needed to contact Rou Li and Gyatso as soon as possible so they knew he was okay. Maybe there was a town with a messenger hawk station around here. Nancheng didn't use the hawks internally (that's what lemurs were for), but outside news often came from hawk and they had a reception station in the temple for such messages.

That earthbending girl would know about that sort of thing. Aang didn't even know where he was, let alone the names or facilities of the nearby towns. He leaned against a pillar and looked around outside the house. Where _was_ she anyway?

He didn't want to get lost or miss her if she came back. It would be best to stay around her house for now.

She'd said this property was hers. Aang turned and picked at the crude earthen pillar he was leaning on. If she owned all this property, why was she living in a dirt house? It had its charm, he supposed, but if all this land was hers, why live like this? She was an earthbender, yes, but these pillars weren't even or smooth at all.

Plus, there was something weird about this pillar. The density was all wrong. It was far too sturdy to be just dirt. He shoved his good (or, at the very least, better) shoulder against it. A few pieces of earth fell off.

On a whim, Aang started pulling at the dirt covering the pillar. He'd always liked mysteries as a kid, and the winding passages of the temple had provided him and Rou Li endless places to go exploring as temple orphans. Something about this girl and her estate and weird house didn't make sense.

A large chunk of dirt fell off and Aang squinted. There was still some dirt covering it, but the exposed stretch of pillar looked... white. He rubbed his thumb against it, clearing off the last of the dirt. It was... smooth too. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to have a light red streak on the top part.

Aang took a step back, looking at the tall 'dirt' pillars in shock. The girl's house was made of solid _marble_? Just one of these pillars would be worth more than-

"Its not very nice for guests to pick apart their host's house you know."

Aang jumped as the voice sounded behind him. He landed in a combat ready pose facing the source (and almost fell over from forgetting the splint on his arm) only to discover the earthbending girl standing there, arms crossed. He relaxed in relief.

His first thought was that she seemed shorter in the daylight.

"You're surprisingly unapologetic for someone who's spent the last several minutes picking apart the column in a stranger's house," she said.

Aang felt his jaw flop open slightly. "Your house!" he yelled, waving his good arm for emphasis, "Is made! Of Marble!"

She regarded him a moment, nonplussed. "And you," she said calmly, "are leaving now." She shoved a loaf of bread in his still outstretched arm before pointing north.

"The wall marking the edge of my estate is closest in that direction," she said, pale green eyes still unfocused, "once out there, its about a two days walk to the next village. There's fresh water on the way. Now get out."

Aang hesitated. She scared him a little. Well. Maybe more than a little. But...

"Please," he started, not quite sure where he was going with this himself, "I need your help."

She snorted, flipping her bangs to the side. For the first time, she tilted her head up to look at his face. "I don't owe you anything, Twinkletoes. You washed up on my beach, I helped you and splinted your arm. Now you're starting to ask funny questions, be generally intrusive, and are now trespassing on my estate seeing as I asked you to leave."

Aang blinked and rubbed his neck. She was scarier now that he wasn't looking at the goggles perched on the top of her head more than her face. Her eyes were... different too... almost like she was...

"You're blind!" he exclaimed in surprise, voicing his thoughts aloud.

Blind or not, her exasperation was clear as she rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, Twinkletoes? I never would have known if you hadn't said anything."

Aang winced slightly. "Uh, sorry. You just... don't act like any other blind person I've ever met."

That pulled a slight smile out of her. It was a slightly cocky smile and reminded him of Rou Li in a way. "That's 'cause I'm _not _like any other blind person you've ever met."

He struggled to put together all the pieces together in his head. She couldn't be any older than he was, yet she owned a huge (by his standards at least) estate and a house made out of what he could only assume was the finest marble. And now she was blind. His head hurt. As fascinating as she was, he still needed to get back.

She seemed to sense his change in mood, cutting him off before he could say a single word. "This doesn't change anything. You're still leaving. Right now, got it?"

"... please," he said, a bit quieter this time, "I just want to go home. I have a bad sense of direction and I just want to get back to the Southern Air Temple at Nancheng. My adoptive father, Gyatso, and brother, Rou Li, are going to be worried about me."

She seemed unmoved thus far, though she'd averted her 'gaze' a bit and was now 'looking' off to the side.

"I just need to know where the nearest messenger hawk station and southern port are. That's all. I won't tell people about your house that is secretly marble or anything. I just want to get home to my family and my people, you can understand that, can't you?"

She was silent for a long moment before shrugging not quite as uncaring as she'd probably meant to appear. "Actually," she said, "I can't. I don't care about my family anymore. Besides, you've got bigger obstacles than a short blind girl in your quest to get home."

His stomach twisted. "What... what do you mean?"

She frowned slightly. "You haven't heard?"

He shook his head before remembering she was blind. "No... heard what?"

For the first time, she seemed to hold some modicum of regret at delivering his bad news, needlessly fiddling with the strap of the goggles perched on her head.

He felt his anxiety growing. "What bad news?"

She sighed. "The Earth Kingdom's newest anti-piracy measure was passed yesterday. They're closing the borders to all non-governmental trade and communication until the Fire Nation starts enforcing their anti-piracy measures. They can't start a war with no official evidence of the Fire Nation financing the pirates and promoting the slave trade, so they're going to try and force an answer with a self-imposed embargo."

"But... I'm not Fire Nation!" he protested.

She shrugged. "You're still stuck here as much as anyone else. Yesterday was the last day for foreign merchants to pull up anchor from Earth Kingdom ports. Looks like you're stuck here for now, Flyboy."

x x x

"Your sacrifice was a valiant gesture, but I think I should inform you of how your life is going to be from now on."

The girl met his eyes with defiance, her chapped lips curling up in a sneer. "Don't bother," she said, voice reflecting the dryness of the cell, "I assure you I won't be here long, _Captain_."

Zuko ignored the jibe in her voice. While she was spirited, she certainly wasn't the first. "When we get to Gangkao, I'll deliver you to one of the markets there that specializes in your age bracket. You're trained, so as long as you don't do anything stupid you won't be mistreated."

She snorted in disbelief and Zuko shrugged. "Understand now that you're no longer a poor peasant sitting on an iceburg in the south pole. As a slave trained in the operation and efficiency of steam engines, you have valuable skills. Once you've been broken, you'll likely be sold to the captain of a merchant ship. Slaves are expensive. You're now worth more money than you've ever seen in your life. If you're damaged or rebellious, you only cheapen yourself, which will only hurt you in the long run."

He met her eyes as she glared up at him. "I have no quarrel with you personally. Don't give me trouble and I'll make sure to keep my crew entirely in line."

Her face paled as she absorbed his implications and he stood up. It was a mostly empty threat really, given that his crew were mostly of the milder cut of pirates, but it usually served to keep the new female slaves in line, as well as a good deal of the males.

"You're a monster," she whispered viciously.

He shrugged; it was hardly a new line. "This is what I have to do," he replied as he shut the first layer of the door behind him, then the second.

He could practically feel the hatred radiating off of her, but it was hardly unexpected. He made his way to the deck.

"Jee!" he shouted, looking around for his first mate.

"Captain," the man replied, walking over.

"Have you had the men check our trail?"

Jee nodded. "Yes sir. Since you ordered it last night I've had the lookouts specifically checking the southern skies. We've been clear the whole time."

Zuko gave an absent nod in acknowledgment and dismissed the man before making his way to the rear of the ship. Scanning the southern horizon, he willed the uneasy feeling in his stomach to go away. It refused to leave, however, and the former prince decided to make due with his paranoia. Someone was following them, of that he was sure.

x x x

"There has to be a way!"

She plod forward, determined to evict him. "No, there isn't!"

He was following her to the outer wall on his own, but only because he was sure there was a way. "You're obviously rich, don't you, I don't know, know the right people to pay off or something?"

This stopped her in her tracks; she turned and glared at him. "Even if I _was_ the kind of rich bastard who bought favors, I'm certainly not loaning any money to _you_ and you don't have a gold piece to your name."

He paused, but only for a moment. "I don't even need to take a boat! I just need to find someone who can help me make a glider. From there I can make my way to the ground levels of the Eastern Air Temple at Ri Chu. I know the Earth Kingdom is a no-fly zone, but surely there's someone who can-"

"No!" she cut him off, "Even if I _did_ know someone who would help you, Twinkletoes, there is absolutely no reason for me to do so! You're a scrawny, annoying airbender who repays my charity by nagging me to death!"

It stung, and he wanted to back down and disengage... but... something about her made him want to push back. He stomped his foot down.

"Whats your problem?"

She stomped her foot in return, making the earth shake, and glared somewhere in the vicinity of his chin. "Whats _your_ problem?"

"I don't owe you anything," she said quietly after several moments of glaring passed.

Aang sighed. "I know that... but... haven't you ever been in a situation where you couldn't help yourself? Hasn't anyone ever lent you a hand? I... I'm stuck here, kept away from the place I love most. You're the only one here, the only one who can help me..."

She didn't respond for a moment, then laughed lightly. It was higher than he'd have thought from her voice. "Look Twinkletoes, the little speech was cute, and I know you meant every word, but you're not going to win me talking sweet."

For a moment he was glad she was blind and couldn't see his face fall. He opened his mouth to respond, only for her to speak before he could.

"But you're right. There were some people who helped me once when I didn't have a penny to my name," she said, smiling, "and I think they can help you too."

Aang felt his eyebrows shoot up. "You're... helping me?"

She snorted. "I'm getting you out of my hair, Twinkletoes. Plus they probably wouldn't mind a new face. You're probably not _that _ugly."

He choked back a laugh. "This coming from the blind girl?"

She tossed her head and her bangs flipped the the side. "Beauty's something you sense, not something you see. Anyway, lets head back. If I'm coming with you we're gonna need some meat for the journey." She paused as they started walking back and he got the impression she was sizing him up in her own way. "... Whats your name anyway, Twinkletoes?"

He smiled. "I'm Aang."

"Toph."

* * *

This chapter was brought to you by Golden Oreos and my beta Zekey, also known as Cap'n.

Well... two 'mysterious' character's names have been revealed. Ooooh~ You'll get to meet Toph's mystery friends next chapter. At least probably. *shrug*

Anyway, I mostly live on deviantart, but I don't post the fic there because formatting it properly is a pain. Instead, I do a page of doodles for every chapter and link here from there. I also link to the drawings from my profile here if you're interested. I'm mentioning it this time because this chapter's doodles come with hints as to Toph's mystery friends, and anyone who guesses right in their review gets a virtual oreo from me. :)

The drawings are usually pretty quick, but if you're bored or want to see my vision of the characters in this world, go ahead and take a look. Unfortunately, they tend to suffer from update fail (unlike the story itself thankfully) and get posted a day or three after the fic itself is up. Today, however, the page is going up as soon as I finish typing this.

Kia out.


	5. Meeting Friends and NotSoFriends

"I should probably fill you in on who we're meeting, shouldn't I," Toph said, breaking the moderately comfortable silence that had reigned for the better part of their journey as she stated the question like an affirmation. Aang knew that was just how she spoke though.

He shrugged. His sense of urgency had faded as the reality of just how stuck he was sunk in. Toph wasn't going to rush there and nothing he did would change his circumstances at the moment. "I guess that _would_ be kind of nice," he said after a moment's pause. He'd learned over the past two days' travel that Toph did things at her own pace.

She would tell him when she told him and not a moment before. They would stop for lunch when she was hungry and pack up camp when she wanted to leave. It had irritated him at first, but now he understood that while she was completely immovable in her stance, she moved with determination. They didn't take unneeded breaks and she set a brisk pace.

"Well, before we get there, I need your word that you won't report anything you see here to any wandering Earth Kingdom envoys."

Aang hesitated. What kind of illegal activity were her friends involved in? Drug trafficking? Porcelain smuggling? An illegal silk operation? Untaxed gold? Come to think of it, a band of smugglers would probably be perfect for-

"Would you stop that, Twinkletoes? I can promise you its nothing quite so exciting."

He resisted the urge to tell her to get out of his head. She'd explained how she saw through earthbending earlier, but it still disconcerted him how she read him so well (in spite of her complaints that he walked like he was tiptoeing).

"Then... what _are_ they doing?" he queried after a moment.

A slight smile lit her face. "You'll find out when we get there. Hey, can you tell me what time it is?"

Aang looked up, approximating the position of the sun and mentally dividing the sky into segments for each hour. It was much easier to do this in a plane, where the sky was wide open. Trees and forests made telling time an annoying chore.

"Um... its midway through the... nineteenth hour," he said, finally.

"Hm, you may be in luck, Twinkletoes. We should be there before dark. It should make for a nice view (you know, for you seeing people). Plus if they trust you and you lend a hand, you may be on your way tonight."

Aang grinned and impulsively seized the short girl in a one-armed hug. "That;s fantastic! Thank you so much Toph!"

She shoved at him and struggled to throw him off in return. "Gerroff Twinkletoes! When did I say I liked lanky bald kids hanging on me?"

He laughed and hung on until she hit his bad arm and he yelped, letting go. She gave him one last push and stomped ahead, but he could have sworn he detected a faint blush on her cheeks as she grumbled about clingy airbenders and disrespect of personal space.

Clouds and tree cover drew back after another half hour's walk as they entered a wide clearing in the forest. Aang glanced up, absorbing the clear sight of the sky for the first time that day. There was still a good deal of light at this time of day in the summer and the sky was a light cerulean that reminded him of his tattoos.

"Stand back Twinkletoes. You'd probably just float down, but I don't have the patience to deal with you if that other arm breaks."

"Yes ma'am!" He hurriedly backed up from the clearing to the woods where Toph was, making sure to stand well behind her. She took a strong stance and dug her feet into the ground before making a series of movements with her arms. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen.

Then the ground started to shake.

Aang jumped in surprise and resisted the urge to grab Toph's shoulder and ask what was going on. It was probably best not to interrupt an earthbender who was doing something obviously important. Then there was a shift of movement out of the corner of his eye and he turned back to the clearing in time to see the ground pulling apart as a pair of hidden metal doors opened, lifting up the grass and layer of ground on top. He took several tentative steps forward. Slowly, the doors drew back into a pair of accordion-like folds.

Toph appeared at his side silently, a satisfied smile on her face. "The mechanism will take over once I've got them moving. Anyway, why don't you take a look inside." She walked to the edge of the newly-revealed pit, gesturing to him that he should follow, then cupped her hands around her mouth and bellowed down, her voice echoing several times.

"Oi! Teo! Suki! I've got a visitor for you!"

Aang moved forward after her, standing carefully once he was near the edge. A slow grin spread over his face even as his eyebrows shot up.

They had a sky-ship.

x x x

Sokka wasn't exactly sure how long he'd been traveling. Between the handful of half-hour naps he'd taken and the confusion as he left the boundaries of the midnight-sun into areas with a "normal" sky he'd lost track of whether he'd been traveling for two days or four. He rubbed his eyes blearily and tried not to think of how Katara would lecture him for pushing himself like this.

Of course, he'd point out that he was doing this to save her from a life of slavery in the Fire Nation or on some filthy pirate or merchant ship, but she probably wouldn't listen to him.

He splashed a little water onto his face from one of Katara's waterskins she'd left on the ship. That's why he was going after her. He needed to rescue her so he could bring her back so she could ignore him properly.

He bit back a yawn. That made perfect sense. He'd be sure to explain that very important point to her later.

Maybe when he was a little less lost.

Sokka glared at the map he'd tacked to the railing near the wheel. Running the entire ship by himself was hard enough without needing to keep track of where his main chart was.

Another yawn. He fought the urge to close his eyes. Surely a short nap wouldn't hurt. Its what Katara would want him to do. Plus it wasn't like he was going to get off course.

He had no idea where that damned pirate ship was anyway.

x x x

He followed Toph down a set of hidden stairs, taking in the ship as they went. I was smaller than most pirate ships he'd seen, probably only barely enough room for a plane to take off. It was a medium sized ship by his standards, though it made several notable deviations from the normal style of ships he'd seen the pirates sporting.

Despite all the Fire Nation's official denials, they couldn't cover the fact that every pirate ship had strong Fire Nation style influences and (mostly) ethnically western island sailors. This ship... it was different. As Toph reached the bottom of the stairs (and he narrowly avoided crashing into her) he reached out and brushed his hand against the wood, looking at its hue again. Even the wood was a different kind, green trim and wider bow aside. The ship's structure was different too; the mast was set farther back and he could swear there was some sort of ribbing between some of the boards.

"Teo! Suki! Where are you?" Toph shouted again. Aang looked around. Whoever these friends of hers wore, they owned a very impressive ship.

Granted, that could get you killed in the Earth Kingdom, but Aang wasn't about to report them.

"Toph?" a male voice called out.

Aang could hear what sounded like... wheels coming from a nearby corridor.

"Over here Teo," Toph replied, smiling. Aang moved away from the ship and stood by her as a young man wheeled himself out of the shadows, a lantern attached to his chair.

He had a wide, friendly smile and wore a portion of his hair in a small bun at the top of his head. "Hey Toph," he said before glancing at Aang with a slightly guarded look, "Who's your friend? You've... never brought someone to the hangar before."

Aang waved with his good arm.

"The skinny tall guy is Twinkletoes," Toph said, jabbing an elbow into his side in a friendly fashion.

Teo raised an eyebrow as an older girl with auburn hair walked out. "Strange name," she said, voiced laced with a smile.

He stepped forward and extended a hand to the older boy in the wheelchair, Toph had called him Teo. "My name's Aang."

Teo gripped his hand firmly. "Teo Mechanist."

Aang smiled. "Nice to meet you," he said.

Toph had made her way over to the older girl, which emphasized their height differences. She punched the girl lightly on the arm. "This is Suki. No putting the moves on her, Twinkletoes, or Teo will run you over."

They both blushed and Teo made awkward objections to Aang that things weren't' like that. Suki glared ineffectually at Toph and tried to step on her foot.

Aang just smiled. Despite their reactions, it was obvious this was an old joke between the three of them. He didn't really have time to spend on inside jokes however. He gestured over his shoulder.

"Did you two build this boat?"

Teo grinned, and Aang could tell it was from more than relief at the subject change. "Yep, the _Kyoshi_. She's beautiful, isn't she."

Aang nodded in response. "Certainly."

Suki had stopped trying to get back at Toph and was eyeing him with a certain amount of skepticism now. "Which probably has something to do with why Toph brought you here..."

"He's an Air Nomad," Toph started explaining, "Apparently he's not that great a pilot, got shot down, landed here. I'd have kicked him out with directions to the nearest port... but the embargo started the day he woke up." She shrugged. "We talked a bit and I decided to at least _try_ and get him some help. Help being you two."

Suki crossed her arms. "He seems nice enough, but are you sure-"

"Hey," Toph interrupted, tapping a foot lightly on the ground, "my feet don't lie and neither did he. He's not Fire Nation or pirate breed."

"And I'm not a bad pilot either," he grumbled, arms crossed. Toph pushed pretty much all his buttons all the time, but there were some lines he wouldn't allow her to cross.

"Uh huh. Sure. Anyway," she continued, "he fed me a sob story and wants to get home. You two are the only ones with a sky-ship in the whole Earth Kingdom (that I know of anyway)."

Suki's eyebrows raised and Teo didn't bother to hold back an amused grin. "He fed _you_ a sob story? And you bought it?"

He would have sworn Toph was blushing slightly as she objected, "I didn't buy it! I decided this is what I wanted to do this week." She crossed her arms, glare daring either of them to say a word.

Suki snorted, somehow making it seem feminine. Aang estimated she'd be about twenty or so. "Uh huh, sure you did, Toph." She turned to him, arms crossed loosely. "And why should we take you? Our ship is done and fully functional, but we have an important mission coming up, the whole reason we built this ship in fact. Right now we're just collecting intelligence and making our last preparations. Why should we put that at risk for you? Its going to be hard enough escaping the Earth Kingdom during this embargo, especially since its freshly into effect."

She glanced at Teo, who seemed (to Aang at least) to be the more charitable of the two. Teo shrugged. "Since we're listing difficulties, I may as well mention that the Nancheng provinces are completely out of the way of where we're going. Plus, its a fairly clear night. We were waiting for an overcast one before trying to break out of the embargo."

"Oh..." he said, feeling somewhat awkward. He hadn't really given it much thought before, but this really was a huge favor to be asking them, or anyone else. Since the Earth Kingdom had become a no-fly zone, trade between the Air Nomads and the Earth Kingdom had become limited completely to sea-ship travel, which was becoming more and more pricy and inconvenient these days.

"Um," he started hesitantly, looking to change the topic for a bit, "what's this big mission you two are doing anyway?"

Teo and Suki exchanged a look and some sort of silent exchange. Teo was the first to look away and meet Aang's eyes with a level of intensity Aang hadn't seen before.

"We're going to invade the Fire Nation and rescue my dad."

x x x

"Hm, bit scruffy isn't he?"

"Would you like us to dispose of him, Princess?"

Sokka had the strangest dreams sometimes.

"Tsk, I told you not to address me that way when we're aboard the ship; this extends to _other_ ships you idiot."

The voices were different than his usual dream voices. More vivid too. The girl's seemed sharp enough to pierce iron.

"Sorry Pr- Captain! Captain Azula."

"Good, now don't dump him off the side yet. I want to know what kind of idiot sets off on a cross-world journey on his own."

Sokka stirred slightly and resisted the rush of adrenaline that came with the realization that there were people, no, _pirates_ on board his ship. The captain seemed to notice him despite his efforts however.

"Ah, I see you're awake."

He stayed still and kept his eyes closed.

He heard her step closer. "Oh come now, why don't you wake up. Its not often I chat with water tribe peasants like yourself. Consider it an honor of sorts."

At that his eyes snapped open and met a pair of golden ones.

He reacted instantly, body moving before his mind fully processed what he was seeing, leaping up from his position on the deck to lunge at the pirate captain.

Despite being caught off guard, her reflexes were top notch. She grabbed his fist before it connected with her jawbone, counter to send him skidding back at the exact moment he realized the red-lipped captain in front of him was decidedly _not_ the same one who attacked his village.

He blinked a few times as several of her crew members seized him and slammed him back against the railing, twisting his arms behind his back. She had the exact same eyes, but the boobs really should have been a give away for him.

A pirate slapped a pair of wrist irons on him and forced him to his knees. He still couldn't take his eyes off of hers. They were the same cruel eyes that belonged to the pirate who'd made that... deal with Katara.

The captain examined her nails carefully. "Well, that was certainly... interesting. It has proved to me that my crew is incompetent and you have great reaction time, but I'd like to know the root cause."

She leaned in close and Sokka looked away.

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see her eyebrows raise. "Oh? Don't want to look at me now? You seemed quite intent on my face a moment ago."

Still he kept silent. The less he told them the better off he'd be. He didn't have much money on him, if any. They could take his food, but he could see the pirates' ship now, docked to his as they floated idly over the waters. His ship looked like a lifeboat in comparison. They'd have plenty of food and water.

"Hm," the girl mused. She looked about Katara's age, though she carried herself as though she were twice that. "let's start with the basic pleasantries, see if you're even the least bit civilized. My name is Azula; what's yours?"

Something about the name caused a flicker in his mind. It was a Fire Nation name, no doubt, but he stretched his mind. Had he heard it before? In one of his dad's meetings? Maybe he could find out some more information if he cooperated, at least a little bit.

"My name is Sokka," he said cautiously.

She paced around his upper deck, examining the his chart a moment before replying, "I see. So, Sokka, you seem to be a bit out of place out here all alone in the sky. Maybe, if your story is interesting enough, we'll let you live."

Her tone was sounding more familiar to him now. His eyes narrowed as he realized who she sounded like. The accent, the haughtiness. She sounded like that golden-eyed pirate captain who'd taken Katara!

"I'm going to rescue my sister," he said quietly, eyes fixed on her back with hate.

She turned and met his gaze coolly. "Ah, a familial quest. how sweet. You're obviously lost though. The pin in your chart is almost a hundred leagues off from where we actually are right now."

She moved the pin, presumably to the proper location and smirked. "Sokka, you're obviously far from home. And an idiot. You have absolutely nothing of value to trade your life for. Why shouldn't I have you killed?"

His knees felt sore against the floorboards and the wind was blowing through his wolftail as all the pirates turned to look at him. Sokka felt his stomach turn. He'd never been that great at lying. He sighed. Only thing he could do was tell the truth.

"I'm on a quest," he started, ignoring the crew's eyerolls and Azula's slight sneer, "to get my sister back. She's the most important person in the world to me."

Azula snorted. "Is that all? I think you've wasted my time just by making me listen to that drivel."

"And," he continued over her remarks, "I'm on a quest for revenge."

The crew quieted and Azula looked at him with a marginal level of increased interest.

"There's a pirate captain with and eyepatch over his left eye. He has golden eyes identical to yours. When I find him, I'm going to take back my sister and kill him."

Sokka couldn't keep the hatred out of his voice at the end. He didn't care if he got killed now. All that mattered was finding the bastard who took his sister.

Azula's smile widened, showing her teeth, and she let out a short, amused laugh.

"Well, Sokka, you've captured my attention. I believe I know exactly who you're looking for."

* * *

This chapter was almost not brought to you by the distractions of facebook and my finding out my college roommate.

Um, I'm going on vacation starting tomorrow~ I'll find a way to update though, I swear! Don't worry. :)

I've just been wondering, is there anything that has been unclear in the story so far that you think I need to spend more time on or extrapolate on more? Granted, if I've been intentionally vague and plan on explaining it later or its some sort of plot point, I'm afraid your wish may not be granted (though I may speed it up a bit).

Also! 11:45 is TOTALLY on time! Its still Friday here on the east coast!

Kia out.


End file.
